Apparatus for cleaning textile machines



March 8, 1966 P. F. MAGUIRE, JR., ETAL 3,238,974

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed May 22. 1961 INVENTOR.

FIG.|

P lLlP F. MA UIRE JR BAETHUR mges m TTORN March 8, 1966 P. F. MAGUIRE, JR. ETAL 3,238,974

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE MACHINES Original Filed May 22. 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,1

45 3O 34 IO l4 [1 O u i -Zia I4 u u I/ l/ r a [J INVENTORS P IP F. MAGUIRE,JR. ARTHUR MA N ATTORNEY March 8, 1966 P. F. MAGUIRE, JR.. ETAL 3,238,974

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE MACHINES Original Filed May 22. 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet B F l G. 4

INVENTORS PHILIP F. MAGUIRENJR. 35 56 B ARTHUR AGSON March 8, 1966 Original Filed May 22. 1961 FIG. 6

P. F. MAGUIRE, JR., ETAL APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

ARTHUR AG 0 INVENTORS PHILIP F. MAgUISE JR.

March 8, 1966 P. F. MAGUIRE, JR., ETAL 3,233,974

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE MACHINES 1 Filed May 22.

6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Origina n m u INVENTORS PHILIP F. MAGUIRE,JR.

AT'IORNEY March 8, 1966 P. F. MAGUIRE, JR., ETAL 3,

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed May 22. 1961 INVEN' TORS PHILIP F. MAGUIREHJR ARTHUR GSON BY W ATTO EY FIG. 9

United States Patent 3,238,974 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE MACHINES Philip F. Maguire, Jr., Providence, and Arthur Magson, Cumberland, R.I., assiguors to Grinnell Corporation, Providence, R.I., a corporation of Delaware Original application May 22, 1961, Ser. No. 111,519, now Patent No. 3,156,264, dated Nov. 10, 1964. Divided and this application Dec. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 328,622

11 Claims. (Cl. 1391) This application is a division of application Serial No. 111,519 filed May 22, 1961 and entitled Apparatus and Methods for Cleaning Textile Machines, and which was issued 011 November 10, 1964 as Patent No. 3,156,264.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for cleaning textile machines or the like and for improving the operation of such machines. More particularly it has to do with apparatus employing a novel collection member which acts as a shield to certain moving air currents and which has a surface whereon lint, discharged into the air by the machine and shielded from said currents, is deposited.

For many years textile manufacturers have had difliculty in preventing lint from accumulating on the surfaces of their textile machines and thereby interfering with the proper operation of these machines or impairing the quality of the product. Thus, in their operation on the textile material in its various stages of manufacture, textile machines cause small pieces of fiber (lint) to be pulled away or broken off from the main body of the material, whereupon air currents and gravity forces cause this lint to move throughout the air in the area where the machines are located. Inevitably a substantial amount of this lint comes to rest upon the machinery and other objects in the room to which it is likely to adhere because of the coating of sizing on the lint made tacky by the high relative humidity normally maintained.

Over a period of time, this lint accumulates to such an extent that thick matted clumps of it appear on the machinery and on the other objects in the room. There is danger that bunches of this accumulated lint will be dislodged onto the textile material being processed and spoil it and further danger that the lint will clog the machinerys moving parts. In addition to this lint presents a fire hazard, so that it is desirable to have methods and equipment for retarding such lint accumulations.

To solve the lint accumulation problem there have been numerous past proposals ranging from hand-held air hoses to overhead travelling blower units to rigid vacuum hoods mounted on the machinery. Some of these past proposals have been very successful and are widely used today, but none of them combines in one unit all the desirable features which characterize the present invention.

For example, in textile machine cleaning apparatus it is desirable: to gather the lint into a container from which it cannot again escape to collect on the machinery or on the floor under the machinery; to gather lint with apparatus which does not rely on the conduction of the lint by moving air to a container inlet; to gather the lint from an area of the machine which is not limited by the air moving abilities of a vacuum system of reasonable size; to gather the lint with apparatus which effectively cleans those portions of itself which are particularly subject to becoming clogged with lint; to provide apparatus which can readily fit in limited available space and in space which differs from one machine to another; and to provide apparatus which is simple in construction and easily installed.

The present invention has all these desirable features to a surprising and unexpected degree, as is illustrated by one embodiment particularly adapted for a textile loom.

In this embodiment a wide, flexible, endless belt is mounted between spaced apart, parallel rollers located underneath the warp strands at the back of the loom, one roller extending parallel to the heddles and adjacent thereto and the other being the whip roll. With this arrangement the warp strands passing slowly over the whip roll in their normal fashion, rotate the whip roll and cause the upper layerof the belt to be driven slowly toward the heddles and the lower layer to be returned. The upper and lower belt layers are depressed near their center by a weight roller which causes these layers to clear the lower ends of the drop wires, and the belt is wide enough to extend to the sides of the group of warp strands so that the upper belt portion forms an extensive lint collecting surface onto which the lint can fall when it moves downwardly through the air from the warp strands. In this connection the belt acts as a shield or barrier to any air currents which rise upwardly toward the warp strands as a result of the movement of the layer or other parts in the lower regions of the machine and as a result of air currents caused by temperature differentials.

In this embodiment the belt roller adjacent the heddles is provided with a suction manifold having an opening presented generally upwardly and so positioned with respect to the belt that the latter cooperates to restrict the opening of the inlet to a narrow slot. As a result a relatively low rate of withdrawal of air from the manifold produces a relatively high velocity of air through the slot, and the lint brought to this slot by the upper belt layer is drawn into the manifold with considerable force. In addition in this preferred embodiment the lower belt layer retreating from the slot slides over a cleaning scraper on one side of the manifold opening with the result that any lint not drawn off by mere suction at the slot will be dislodged by the scraper while still in the presence of the suction and will be drawn into the manifold.

Preferably in this embodiment the portion of the belt defining one side of the slot is a portion passing over the roller so that the belt is being flexed in the presence of the air moving rapidly through the slot. This flexing tends to loosen any lint adhering to the belt and to allow it to be drawn into the manifold.

An object of the invention is .the provision of textile cleaning apparatus having a moving, continuous belt mounted between two supports, having one surface portion of the belt presented to lint moving through the air, and having an air intake manifold with an intake opening defined in part by the belt at one of the supports.

Another object of the invention is the provision of textile cleaning apparatus having a moving continuous belt encircling a pair of supporting rods and driven therearound by advance of the textile material while in frictional engagement with the belt mechanism, having one surface of the belt presented to lint falling through the air, and having a suction manifold at the other roller with an intake opening defined in part by the belt.

Another object of the invention is the provision of textile loom cleaning apparatus having a moving continuous belt encircling a pair of supporting rollers and driven therearound, having one belt portion beneath the warp strands and substantially parallel thereto to present a moving, lint-collecting surface to lint falling from the warp strands, and having a suction manifold at the roller toward which this belt portion moves with an elongated suction intake opening defined in part by the belt passing over such roller.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The best mode in which it has been contemplated applying the principles of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, but these are to be deemed primarily illustrative, for it is intended that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in the appended claims whatever of patentable novelty exists in the invention disclosed.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention applied to the back part of a textile loom, with portions of the loom omitted and other portions broken away to simplify the showing.

FIGURE 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic top plan view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 with the warp strands and the front portions of the loom omitted.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the suction manifold and belt centering arrangement for the apparatus of FIGS. 1-3.

FIGURE 5 is a partially cross-sectioned side elevation view of the motor, air pump and lint container used in the embodiment of FIGS. *1-3.

FIGURE 6 is a front elevation view of another embodiment of the invention applied to the front part of a textile loom, again with portions of the loom omitted and other portions broken away to simplify the showing.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged perspective view of one belt roller of FIG. 6 and the belt driving mechanism therefor.

FIGURE 8 is a view like FIG. 7 showing another belt driving mechanism.

FIGURE 9 is a side elevation view showing an embodiment in which a belt in the front of the loom encircles rollers parallel to the heddles and in which the belt is driven by the cloth.

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 9.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-5 there is a wide, flexible, endless belt 10 passing around the loom whip roll 12 between this roll and the warp strands 14 and also around a roller 16 adjacent the heddles 18. More particularly the roller 16 has its ends 16a journalled in the end plates 20a of an elongated suction manifold 20 which extends horizontally underneath the warp strands and generally parallel to the heddles. This manifold has an inlet opening 20b (see FIG. 4) extending along its upper wall. One side of this opening is defined by an upstanding extension 20c of the manifold side wall 200! which is along the heddles, and the other side of this opening (parallel to the first-mentioned side) is defined by an upstanding lip 20s on the edge of a top manifold cover door 20 hinged at 20g to the upper edge of the opposite manifold wall 2011.

With reference to this manifold opening 20b the roller 16 is located so that it defines, with the wall extension 20c, a narrow slot 22 of substantially uniform width along the length of the manifold. The roller 16 is further located so that the belt 10 passing over it has upper and lower layers 10a and 10b, respectively, extending back toward the whip-roll, and the lower belt layer 1012 rubs on the manifold lip 20c.

With this arrangement the manifold openings 20b is partially covered by the roller 16 and the lower belt layer 10b, so that substantially all of the air drawn into the manifold by apparatus which will be described hereinafter passes through the narrow slot 22.

The manifold 20 is mounted on the loom frame in any convenient manner, for example, on cross bar 24 by brackets 26 (see FIG. 1) so that the manifold wall 20d is as close as possible to the heddle 18 nearest to it without interfering with the movement of this heddle and so that the upper belt layer 10a is close to the lowest position of warp strands 14 entering the heddles.

The suction in the manifold is provided by an air suction pump 30 (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 5) driven by a small electric motor 32 both of which are mounted on a lint collection container 34. This container is in turn mounted on the loom frame at a convenient and accessible location by a bracket 35. For example, it may be mounted as shown above the loom motor 36. The pump 30 draws air out of the container 34 through a filter system 37 which traps in the container any lint in the air supplied thereto. Such supply is provided by a pair of flexible conduits 38 which lead to the container from the manifold 20 and are connected to the latter by nipples 201' on the bottom wall 20k of the manifold, so that the action of the pump 30 draws air into the manifold through the slot 22, along the conduits 38, into the container 34, through the filter 37 and through the pump 30 to the exhaust 30a thereof. Lint may be removed front the container through door 3401.

From the manifold 20 the upper and lower belt layers 10a and 10b extend generally side-by-side underneath the drop wires 49 and toward the whip-roll around which the belt passes and by which the belt is driven. Thus the warp strands 14 press against the whip roll through the belt, and by the friction resulting from this pressure and by the advance of the warp strands the whip roll is rotated slowly and the belt is moved in such a direction that the upper layer 10a travels toward the manifold and the lower layer 101) returns therefrom.

Because the belt is driven by the advance of the warp strands in the manner described, it need not be drawn tightly between the Whip roll-12 and the roller 16. An idler roller 42 is rested on the upper belt layer behind the drop wires 40 and by its weight serves to assure that this upper belt layer remains out of the way of the drop wires, but this idler roller does not have to tighten the belt on the rollers for the purpose of achieving a belt driving friction between the belt and whip roll. The idler roller 42 is merely a round bar supported by the belt and restrained against endwise movement by frame abutments 44. Narrow endless bands 46 encircling the ends of the whip roll and the ends of the idler roller 42 hold the latter against movement down the slightly sloping upper belt layer toward the front of the loom.

Although the belt 10 shows only a very slight tendency to creep endwise because of variations in belt circumference across its width and because the roller 16 may not be exactly parallel to the whip roll, the belt 10 is preferably provided with a ridge 10c outstanding from the exterior side of the belt and guided in a groove 201 in the manifold lip 200. This belt ridge 10c and groove 2tll cooperate to hold the belt centered on the roller 16 and therefore on the whip roll 12 as well. The ridge 100 does not interfere with the warp strands 14 where they pass over the whip roll because they merely divide on either side of this ridge at this location as shown at 14a in FIG. 1. In fact these dividing warp strands also serve to hold the belt in its proper place on the rollers.

The belt 10 in the embodiment shown is preferably made of rubber-coated fabric with the rubber on the outer surface in the form of a continuous thin rubber sheet which is smooth enough so that lint falling on it is easily drawn off at the slot 22 by the moving air and so that this lint does not build up and form a mat on the belt after prolonged operation.

The operation of the apparatus above-described is as follows: Advance of the warp strands 14 over the whip roll 12 when the loom is operating carries the belt 10 along so that the upper belt layer 10a moves toward the roller 16 and the manifold 20.

Lint generated from warp strands in the region between the whip roll and the heddles tends to fall downwardly on the surface of the upper belt layer 10a which: is presented to this region and this lint rests on this sur-- face to be carried slowly to the manifold by the belt move-- ment. Such falling of the lint 45 onto the belt is to a. considerable extent made possible by the belts acting asv a barrier against the updrafts 47 (see FIG. 2) from the lower portions of the loom, whereby lint is not carried upwardly from the warp strands by these updrafts, whereby the lint is permitted to fall down on the belt from the warp strands under the influence of gravity and whereby the lint which had already fallen on the belt is not blown off before it reaches the manifold.

The bending of the belt as it passes around the roller 16 tends to loosen the lint on the belt surface. This loosening while the lint is directly in the slot 22 enables I the air entering the slot to carry the lint with it and thence from the manifold 20 along the conduits 38 to the container 34.

A narrow thickened portion d of the belt across the belt width, provided, for example, by a sewn seam when the belt is prepared, is a preferred arrangement for positively clearing the slot 22, if, for any reason, a clump of lint which has fallen onto the belt jams in the slot and will not pass through it despite the rapid movement of air (see FIG. 4).

If any lint adheres to the belt and is not drawn off the belt surface at the slot 22 it will be scraped off by the lip over which the belt layer 10b passes, and the very slight gaps which will inevitably appear between this lip and the belt rubbing thereon will have air drawn through them and into the manifold at relatively high velocity which will assist the lip in dislodging the lint still on the belt at this location. The sides of the belt ridge 10c are restrained by the sides of the groove 20e in the manifold lip so that the belt is kept centered on the roller 16 and consequently also centered on the whip roll 12.

It will be noted that in this described arrangement of FIGS. l-S, the manifold is located underneath the belt except for the side wall extension 20c and the slot 22. This has the advantage that lint cannot collect in any substantial amounts on the manifold itself since the manifold is on the side of the belt opposite to that where the lint is principally generated.

It will also be noted that the use of a barrier of flexible material between the heddles and the whip roll permits a very efiicient blocking of air currents and a very efficient provision of a lint collection surface since the belt is light in weight, inexpensive, occupies little space and is easily conformed to contours of available space.

Referring now to the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7, another belt 48 is located at the front of the loom beneath the part of the warp strands 14 which extend from heddles 18 to the cloth 50. More particularly this belt is mounted on a pair of parallel rollers 52 and 54, one of which (52) has its ends journalled on a bracket 55 mounted on a frame portion 56 and the other of which (54) has its ends journalled on another suction manifold 58 like the manifold 20 of the earlier described embodiment. This manifold 58 is mounted on another frame portion 60 by a bracket 62.

The rollers 54 and 52 are at opposite sides of the loom, as shown, and are positioned so that the lay 64 with the race board 66 and reed 68 oscillate above the rollers and manifold and above the upper belt layer 48a. The distance under the shed formed by the warp strands between the heddles 18 and the cloth 50' approaching the cloth roll 70 is not great, and, accordingly, the belt 48 running across the machine in the direction shown is much narrower than the belt 10 of the earlier described embodiment. However, a considerable amount of lint is formed from the warp strands in the region of the shed, and the belt 48, though comparatively narrow, will catch and carry to the suction manifold 58 substantial quantities of such lint. This use of a narrow belt, which results from running it in the direction shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, has the advantage that the manifold 58 is short and consequently the suction force along the slot is greater for a given suction pump motor than it would be if the manifold extended parallel to the heddles. A belt under the warp strands and drop wires at the back of the loom can also be run across the machine instead of from back to front.

To drive the roller 52 a friction wheel 72 is journalled on a lever arm 74 pivoted to bracket 55. A spring 76 urges the friction wheel against the belt 48 where it passes over the roller 52, and the friction wheel has a rubber tire 72a to insure a satisfactory friction drive. The wheel 72 is rotated by a flexible cable 78 connected at one end to the wheel axle 7212 and at the other end to a reduct-ion gear box 80 which is mounted on the loom frame and receives its input from some convenient part such as the loom drive shaft 82.

Conduit 84 connected to a manifold nipple 581' conducts air and lint from the manifold 58 to a container which can be the same container 34 when the loom is also provided with an embodiment of the invention like that of FIGS. l-S or it can be a similar container if only the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 is employed.

FIGURE 8 shows another way of driving the belt 48 which involves driving the roller 52 rather than a friction wheel. In this case the flexible cable 78 is connected to the axle of roller 52 at 5-241 and thereby rotates the roller 52. Accordingly, the belt must be kept tight enough on the rollers to provide driving friction between the belt 48 and the roller 52. This is accomplished by providing the bracket 55 with a swinging portion 55a on which the roller 52 is journalled and which is pivoted to the fixed bracket portion 55b on an axis 550 by aligned pivots 5 5d. A spring 55s interposed between the fixed and swinging bracket portions urges portion 55a in a clockwise direct-ion (in FIG. 8) to maintain the belt 48 taut between its rollers.

FIGURE 9 shows another embodiment in which a belt is located under the lay 64 between the heddles 18 and the cloth 50 approaching the cloth roll 70, this belt being mounted on rollers 112 and 114 which differ from those in the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 in that they are parallel to the heddles. One of these rollers (-112) is located adjacent the heddles under the lay 64 and the other (114) is located toward the front of the loom adjacent the cloth 50 approaching the cloth roll 70. The roller 114 is somewhat above the roller 112 so that the upper belt layer 1100 slants at an angle from the front of the loom downward toward the heddles. The manifold 116 in this case is located at the roller 112 which is journalled in the end plates 116a, and the belt is driven by a friction roller 118 mounted on brackets 120 which are secured to a bar 119. This bar is in turn pivoted to the loom frame by hooks 119a so that the weight of the friction r-olle-r swings the bar and brackets counter-clockwise (in FIG. 9) and presses the friction roller 118 against the cloth 50. At the same time a weight roller 122 resting on the lower belt layer 11011, and connected to the bracket 1-20 by flexible bands 124, presses the lower belt layer 11% against the friction roller at 1 10c. With this arrangement movement of the cloth 50 in its normal manner (as indicated by arrow 126) drives the belt 110 and advances the upper belt layer 110a from roll-er 114 to roller 112 where the manifold is located. Roller 114 is journalled in the same brackets 120 as the friction roller 118.

Although the air suction pump, motor and container are shown in each case permanently mounted on the textile machine, it is within the scope of the invention tohave some or all of these items separable, for example to have the pump motor, container and conduit on a conveyor which wheels along the floor of the mill room in which many machines are located or which is suspended from an overhead rail in such a room and to have a belt and manifold on each machine. By bringing the conveyor to each machine in turn, connecting the conduit to the manifold on that machine, moving the belt on that machine and simultaneously operating the air suction pump on the conveyor, the lint which has collected on the belt surface since the previous visit to that machine may be collected.

We claim:

1. For a textile loom having a region through which lint falls, a lint-gathering apparatus comprising:

(I) an elongated hollow collection container which:

(A) is mounted on said machine to extend horizontally through said region,

(B) presents upwardly a top area which:

(1) projects along a vertical path, (2) has one edge extending along the container length, (3) includes an elongated container opening which:

(a) extends along at least a substantial portion of said container length, (b) has one side substantially coinciding with said area edge, (c) has an opposite side,

(II) an elongated roller which:

(A) is journalled in fixed relation with respect to said container,

(B) extends:

(1) horizontally through said region,

(2) in the said vertical path of said area projection,

(3) generally parallel to said opening,

(III) a flexible belt which:

(A) has a first portion which:

(1) partially encircles said roller,

(2) is closely adjacent said container opening side (3) defines with said container opening side an upwardly presented entrance,

(B) has a second portion which extends from said roller:

(1) generally horizontally through said region,

(2) away from said area edge,

(3) in the said vertical path of said area projection,

(C) at one point passes in sealing proximity with respect to said opposite side of said container opening,

(IV) means located out of said vertical path of said container top area and remote from said elongated roller for cooperating therewith to support and permit movement of said flexible belt,

(V) means for drawing air into said container through said entrance.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said edge of said upwardly presented container area and said container opening side are defined by the edge of a container side wall.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said container side wall slopes inwardly from its said edge.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said container side wall is substantially vertical.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said container has end walls and in which said roller is journalled on said end walls.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said container has ends and in which said elongated opening and belt extend to said ends, whereby said first belt portion and said opening side define an upwardly presented container entrance lying in a portion of the path of said area projection and whereby said second belt portion lies in the remainder of said area path.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said container has a scraper engaging said belt at said container opening.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said side of said container opening is parallel to said one side and wherein said scraper is mounted on said opposite side.

9. In combination with a textile loom having a generally horizontal layer of warp strands, apparatus for gathering lint falling downwardly from said layer, said apparatus comprising:

(I) an elongated suction manifold which:

(A) is mounted on said loom under said layer,

(B) extends across said layer, (C) presents upwardly toward said layer a top area which:

( 1) projects along a vertical path,

(2) has one edge extending along the manifold length,

(3) includes an elongated manifold opening which:

(a) extends along at least a substantially portion of said manifold length,

(b) has one side substantially coinciding with said area edge,

(c) has another side opposite and parallel to said one side,

(II) a first elongated roller which:

(A) is journalled in fixed relation with respect to said manifold, (B) extends:

(1) parallel to said manifold,

(2) between said manifold opening and said warp strand layer,

(3) in the said vertical path of said area projection,

(III) a second elongated roller which:

(A) is journalled with respect to said loom,

(B) is spaced from said first roller,

(C) is parallel to said first roller,

(D) is on the side of said first roller remote from said manifold area edge,

(IV) a flexible endless belt which:

(A) encircles said rollers, (B) has a first portion which:

(1) extends between said rollers,

(2) is presented toward said warp strand layer,

(C) has a second portion which:

(1) engages said first roller,

(2) is flexed by said first roller,

(3) is spaced from and defines with said one side of said manifold opening an upwardly presented manifold air entrance,

(D) has a third portion which:

(1) extends from said first roller,

(2) is presented away from said warp strand layer,

(3) is in scraping contact with said other mainfold opening side.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said other manifold opening side is defined by an upwardly extending wall, wherein said wall has an upper, substantially horizontal edge and wherein said third belt portion engages said edge.

11. In combination with a textile loom having a generally horizontal layer of warp strands, apparatus for gathering lint falling downwardly from said layer, said apparatus comprising:

(I) an elongated suction manifold which:

(A) is mounted on said loom under said layer,

(B) extends across said layer,

(C) presents upwardly toward said layer a top area which:

(1) has one edge extending along the manifold length,

(2) includes an elongated manifold opening which:

(a) extends along at least a substantial portion of said manifold length,

(b) has a pair of sides which: (i) are spaced apart, (ii) are substantially parallel, (iii) extend along said manifold length,

(II) a first elongated roller which:

(A) is spaced from said edge of said manifold top area,

(B) is journalled in fixed relation with respect to said manifold, (C) extends:

( 1) parallel to said manifold, (2) between said manifold opening and said Warp strand layer, (III) a second elongated roller which:

(A) is spaced from said first roller, (B) is parallel to said first roller, (IV) a flexible belt which:

(A) is endless, (B) is mounted on said first and second rollers, (C) has a first portion which:

( 1) extends from said first roller:

(a) away from said edge of said manifold top area, (b) generally parallel to said layer of Warp strands, (c) toward said second roller, (2) has an upper surface presented toward said layer, (B) has a second portion which:

(1) lies against said first roller, 2) is flexed by said first roller, (3) is spaced from and defines with one of said manifold opening sides a manifold air entrance,

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Renwick 198230 X Bemis 198230 Winters 198-230 Hilker,

Osgood.

Caille 57-34.5 X Hollick 15306.1 Loepsinger 139-1 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain. Great Britain.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. 

1. FOR A TEXTILE LOOM HAVING A REGION THROUGH WHICH LINT FALLS, A LINT-GATHERING APPARATUS COMPRISING: (1) AN ELONGATGED HOLLOW COLLECTION CONTAINER WHICH: (A) IS MOUNTED ON SAID MACHINE TO EXTEND HORIZONTALLY THROUGH SAID REGION, (B) PRESENTS UPWARDLY A TOP AREA WHICH: (1) PROJECTS ALONG A VERTICAL PATH, (2) HAS ONE EDGE EXTENDING ALONG THE CONTAINER LENGTH, (3) INCLUDES AN ELONGATED CONTAINER OPENING WHICH: (A) EXTENDS ALONG AT LEAST A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF SAID CONTAINER LENGTH, (B) HAS ONE SIDE SUBSTANTIALLY COINCIDING WITH SAID AREA EDGE, (C) HAS AN OPPOSITE SIDE, (11) ELONGATED ROLLER WHICH: (A) IS JOURNALLED IN FIXED RELATION WITH RESPECT TO SAID CONTAINER, (B) EXTENDS: (1) HORIZONTALLY THROUGH SAID REGION, (2) IN THE SAID VERTICAL PATH OF SAID AREA PROJECTION, (3) GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID OPENING, (111) A FLEXIBLE BELT WHICH: 